Scotland’s ties to Barbados
Invest Barbados is the economic development agency of the government of Barbados, responsible for attracting, winning and sustaining international investment.
Scotland enjoys long-held links with the island. The Barbados Coat of Arms features a saltire formed of two sugar cane stalks, which appears on the Bajan dollar coins. Meanwhile, the "Order of Saint Andrew" is Barbados' highest national award, and both countries share Saint Andrew as their patron saint.
We have held two information events in Scotland, our most recent in Glasgow. This followed a highly successful trade mission by Scottish businesses to Barbados last November, with another due this year.
Located in the Eastern Caribbean, Barbados is the highest-ranked developing country on the UN'S human development index.
Beyond our pristine beaches, there's political, social and economic stability. Literacy is high, while crime and poverty rates are low. Here you will find an exceptional quality of life where corporate and personal well-being can flourish.
Recently ranked second for competitiveness among the Latin American and Caribbean countries by the Global Financial Centres Index, Barbados remains a resilient finance centre.
As an innovative response to the pandemic, Barbados was the first to invite visitors, especially digital nomads, to live and work in paradise for up to a year.
The novel 12-month visa has proved very popular with the international business community and is a clear signal that Barbados is so much more than a tourist destination.
Barbados has a long history in financial services with over 4,000 financial companies, 40 double taxation agreements and nine bilateral investment treaties.
We are well-regulated, and while we appreciate the value of our tourism sector, global business is the business of Barbados. Barbados features a competitive corporate tax of 1-5.5 per cent based on a sliding scale. There are also tax allowances for manufacturing and research and development. Currently these are some of the lowest corporation tax rates anywhere in the world. Our income tax rates are also competitive.
Committed to the diversification of our economy, we have been promoting our productive sectors globally. These include areas such as insurance, wealth management, financial services, information communication technology, renewable energy and niche manufacturing, to name a few.
Concerning renewable energy, by 2030, Barbados intends to be generating 100 per cent of its energy from alternative sources.agriculture is also a sector that has experienced substantive growth recently. Kaye-anne Brathwaite, CEO of Invest Barbados